A Better Life
by thamimosuilean
Summary: Carol, Daryl and Merle grew up as childhood friends until Carol had to leave town. Now she has returned with her daughter after leaving her husband. Most other characters will be included although I have changed them to fit this fic. No walkers. Rating may be wrong.
1. Leaving

**Discalimer: I own nothing.**

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**Chapter 1 - Leaving**

It was the final blow to my ribs before he stormed out the door that cemented my decision. I wasn't going to take it anymore, I had Sophia to think of, and this had been going on for too long. I don't know why I stuck around so long; he was never going to change. All I'd hoped for was a real family for Sophia so she wouldn't have to grow up as quickly as I did. As I leaned against the wall to pull myself I could see Sophia walking towards me with tears in her eyes. "Mama, are you going to be ok?" she asked quietly. "I'll be fine, I'll just go and clean up then I'll be with you."

I stopped as I walked by the phone; I knew how to get Sophia away from here. Before I knew it I heard a familiar voice on the other end of the phone. "Dale, its Carol. It is ok if Sophia and I take you up on the offer to stay a while?" He knew what was going on and I could hear the relief in his voice as he said he would have a room waiting for us. "Thank you Dale, we'll be there by the morning." "Sophia pack your things we're going on a trip, just you and me." Her eyes lit up as she ran towards her room. Dale had looked out for me since my dad died. I had my mum but she spent most of her time at the bar with my friends Daryl and Merle Dixon's mum. The three of us had looked after each other until I was kicked out of the house and sent to live with my aunt when I was 14.

Sophia's voice brought me back to the present. "Mama, how much do I need to pack?" "As much as you can, we're going to stay with a friend of mine and I promise things are going to get better, ok?"

We had to be gone before Ed came home; luckily neither of us had very much to pack so we could be out of here as quickly as possible. It would be strange going back after all this time but it was my home and Sophia and I could have a better life there. I also hoped that Daryl and Merle were still around, we had been through so much together and I hadn't seen them for 7 years.

Sophia had slept most of the way here, we were close to Dale's house and I already felt as though a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Marrying Ed had been a mistake but I was determined to make up for it. At 18 I loved him and at the time he didn't care that I had a 4 year old daughter, I was so sure that he would be a good father to her. I don't know whether it was a desire for a real family that made me stay or fear of Ed doing something to Sophia if we left but now 6 years later we were on our own again.

Driving through town it looked like very little had changed although one very familiar area on the edge of town seemed to have been abandoned. My old house was still there but it was looking even more run down, my mum had disappeared a few years ago and Dale had kept the few things that were left in case she came back. Even after all these years the Dixon's old place next door was still little more than the pile of stones it became after the fire 15 years ago.

After finally stopping the car at Dale's I felt the pains where Ed had hit me. I knew I'd have a black eye by now, my lip was split and sore and my ribs would be bruised or possibly cracked, again, but I'd deal with that later. As I expected Dale had the room ready and was offering us breakfast before we were even in the house. I could see him looking at my bruised face but he wasn't going to say anything in front of Sophia, I would talk to him later but just now Sophia and I needed to eat and I was exhausted from driving all night.

After resting my mind was clear enough to start planning my next move; I need to find a job, Sophia would have to be enrolled in school and we'd need a place to live. They all seem easy compared to talking to a lawyer about divorcing Ed; I knew he would fight even though he didn't love either of us.

Getting Sophia in to the local school was easy enough, I just hoped she wouldn't be too shy to try and make friends when she started on Monday. I also found a few jobs I could apply for which meant I could start saving for a place to live. Now I just had to call the lawyer to get the ball rolling.

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**A/N: Reviews are appreciated. Any suggestions for occupations of characters are welcome, if their job is mentioned they will probably still be that in the story. Next chapter is a sort of flash back - time won't run smoothly in this fic but it will be obvious when everything occurs. Also if someone could message me on how to name chapters, that would be great.**


	2. Being Pregnant Changes Everything

**A/N(1) Sorry this took so long. This takes place when Carol and Daryl are 14 and Merle is 21. This is just an edit while I work on the next chapter, which should hopefully be up within the next few weeks.**

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Once again my mum and I were in the middle of yet another shouting match, only this time it had started for a reason. This time I was in serious trouble, she usually gave up after a while and continue drinking but this issue was not going to be dropped so easily.

"You're barely 14 years old, how could you do this?"

I'd heard this same sentence so many times since I stepped in the door it wasn't even registering any more, if anything I felt more and more helpless as time went on but if I don't say anything she'll back down. "I don't know what to do with you any more." She actually looked ashamed of me, as though she had brought me and actually expected something of me other than taking care of her. "You're leaving first thing in the morning; I can't deal with you any more." Of all the times to start acting like a parent this was the moment she chose, not to help me in any way but to tell me to leave and I wasn't going to stay quiet any longer .

"I've made one mistake! What about all the times I've taken care of you when you came home so drunk you couldn't make it through the front door? I never ignored your calls for help you, even when I was 5 years old and should have been in bed or doing homework."

It was clear there was never going to be any reasonable discussion over this issue but I wasn't about to back down now and let her think she could suddenly start to take an active role in my life.

"All I need is a little help from you for maybe the first time in my life, I've never been in this kind of trouble before."

For a moment we just looked at each other before she started walking towards me.

"No Carol, I am not going to help you deal with your mess, you got yourself into this situation you can deal with the consequences on your own."

At this point I knew it was all over, I had to gather my few belongings and leave town on the first bus out of here.

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I don't know how long I've been wandering around town with my bag just thinking about what I should do next. My aunt lives a few towns over but it seems unfair to show up on her doorstep asking for a place to live, especially given the situation I'm in, however, it does seem to be my only option just now. I'd walked round the whole town except to the place I really wanted to be, where I knew I wouldn't be looked at any differently. It was only a short walk to the Dixon's house at the edge of the woods, but tonight the walk seemed to take much longer than usual. I should have gone to them first; Daryl, Merle and I had always looked out for one another. Now, standing in front of the house I had to decide whether to go to the door or round the back to Daryl's bedroom, there was always a chance their old man was actually at home and I don't want to be on the receiving end of his temper. As usual it was dark round the back of the house but I knew the way with my eyes closed. Daryl's window is low enough that I can pull myself up and look in to the room, and sure enough he was in there, sitting on the floor, reading one of the books he keeps hidden away. "Daryl." He looked toward the window and I'm sure he rolled his eyes at the sight of me hanging partially through his window. He also looked concerned, like he knew something was wrong, although I'm not surprised, I was never able to hide anything from him or Merle.

"I need to talk to both of you, is your dad here?"

"Yeah, he's here but I'll get Merle and meet you out here."

Although, like me, Daryl is 14, he seems to be a lot older at times. I don't know it it's because of the way he and Merle were brought up or if he tries to act that way to impress his dad and Merle. There were times that Daryl would relax and have fun but only Merle and I saw that side of him, all the other kids our age think he's angry and moody all the time, so don't try to get to know him, not that he wants them to. Merle's 7 years older than us and we were younger we used to rely on him for almost everything. He did teach us how to take care of ourselves and he used to take us in to the woods with him to teach us to hunt, once we turned 12 he started sending us out on our own, usually if he was going out of town. Despite the fact he had all these responsibilities, he would still find time to relax and have fun with us, even when he told us he was too old to play our kids games.

A hand on my shoulder brought me out of me back to reality. We couldn't say anything until we were further away from the house but even in the dark I could just make out their matching expressions, they were obviously worried and I couldn't even try to reassure them everything was fine. Finally Merle started walking and I knew he was leading us to the old hunting cabin where we always used to go to get away from everything. This walk also seemed to be taking longer than usual and the almost tense silence wasn't helping. Merle was still ahead of us and Daryl was walking beside me but for once none of us knew what to say, usually Merle would shout at us to hurry or would tell us a terrible story that seemed to have no real point to it, but not tonight.

Finally we were inside and I braced myself for the number of questions Merle was likely to throw at me, while Daryl, as usual, would remain silent but watching closely.

"Alright Missy, you'd better have a damn good reason for makin' us come out here in the middle of the night."

I stayed silent waiting for him to say more but this time he just waited for me to talk, it was almost as if he was waiting for me to tell him something he already knew. To my left Daryl was half sitting, half leaning on a table, mirroring Merle's pose, only he had picked something up and was fiddling with it, like he does whenever he gets nervous or uncomfortable. I know I can tell them anything but this situation is so difficult and Merle will bombard me with questions when I finally tell him.

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"You're pregnant and you're leaving! Who did this to you, do I know him? Where are you going? Who is going to take care of you if you leave? I knew something was up since you had your bag with you, but I did not expect this. I should have taken better care of you that night, I should have left you two here but instead I dragged you with me to that party and now you're 14 and pregnant "

Thankfully Daryl decided to speak at this point and Merle stopped blaming himself and questioning me.

"What are you going to do? You're obviously keeping the baby but you need money, somewhere to live and loads of other stuff. "

"I'm going to stay with my aunt, I don't have anywhere else to go and she said I could to her if I ever needed anything, I just don't know if this is pushing it. I'm getting the bus in the morning; I have some money left from helping Dale last week, enough to get me to my aunt's at least. Leaving is going to be difficult but I'm not allowed back in the house and l need all the help I can get."

"You still haven't answered any of my questions, girl, I want to know who did this to you so I can deal with him. "

"Merle, it doesn't matter who the father is, all that matters is that I manage to take care of this baby and give it a better life than the three of us had."

Daryl was quiet again but he was watching me, he looks like he wants to say something but not in front of Merle.

"You two should stay here tonight; I'll go home and keep an eye on things."

"You'd better not leave without coming to see me first, OK Missy."

Merle was clearly tense as he walked out the door, Daryl and I both looked at each other knowingly, he was going to pick a fight with their dad to let off some steam and he didn't want us there when it happened. I'd only seen Merle after a fight with his dad a few times but I knew it got rough; he and Daryl both had a lot of scars because of their dad.

Daryl still hadn't said anything but I could see him working up to it, the best thing to do is just wait for him to talk no matter how long it takes. The cabins one room still had some of our old supplies scattered around, no one else used it any more but we always locked it just in case. There wasn't much left, mostly blankets and a couple of torches Merle had left here, some books for Daryl and I to read while Merle was hunting or if we had to spend the night here. We always felt for comfortable here than in our own homes, maybe because it was ours and it was only ever us that came here. Right now Daryl and I were both sitting on the bed, our backs against the wall at the top end with a blanket thrown over us and we were sitting in silence waiting for someone to start talking. Eventually Daryl decided to say what was on his mind before I said something crazy.

"How long are you going to go away for? You are going to come back aren't you?"

I wanted to say that I wouldn't be gone long but I couldn't be sure.

"I don't know, I can't go home now and I'd need a job and money to be able to get a place of my own, never mind the fact I'm pregnant and too young to do any of that."

Although there was no reply I knew Daryl wasn't happy with the answer, his brow was furrowed and he was biting his thumb nail.

"We will still see each other though, I can promise that. I'll tell Merle that you both have to come and visit, especially when the baby is born, might even come back here to visit and you never know I could end up back here one day."

Once again we were sitting in silence and I could feel my eyes starting to shut.

"You know you could at least lie down to sleep rather than using my shoulder as a cushion."

"Yeah, sure but you have to promise to get some sleep too, you'll need your strength to carry my bag to the bus."

"Carol, shut up and go to sleep."

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"Time to wake up Sleeping Beauties."

Trust Merle to wake someone up by pulling off the blanket and shouting in their ears.

"Come on you two, untangle yourselves from one another and grab something to eat."

Daryl and I both suddenly realised that we were lying with our arms around each other and quickly jumped out the bed to join Merle, who had a smug grin on his face.

"If you want to make that bus you'd better eat quickly so get your asses moving."

Merle seemed a lot calmer about the situation so he must have worked off a lot of steam last night; he probably had a lot of cuts and bruises we couldn't see but he'd judging from his mood he'd obviously come off better than his dad.

It didn't take long to eat the little food we had here and I took one last look around before leaving to get the bus. The whole way there Merle was talking about all the adventures we used to have. Thankfully the walk didn't take too long, even Daryl and I can only put up with Merle's stories for so long. It was no longer going to be the three of us any more and no matter what we did things would never go back to how they used to be, being pregnant changes everything.

"Don't be strangers, you have to come and visit once I get settled."

"We'll be there if you need us Missy, just don't expect me to do any babysitting once it's born. One last question, are you ever going to tell me who knocked you up?"

"Maybe one day but not now, I've got to go."

This was a moment where most people would hug but the three of us have never been in to that nonsense. I knew Daryl wasn't going to say goodbye so before I got on the bus I gave him my favourite book, it wouldn't seem like much to most people but between us it was a promise that I would come back. The last thing I saw as the bus pulled away was Merle standing with his arm around Daryl's shoulders before they both turned and walked away.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading and I appreciate the reviews. I have put a poll up asking who you think should be the father, PM me if you want me to add another answer. My Tumblr and Twitter are on my bio if you want to tell me to stop procrastinating or if you have any suggestions of other projects I could have a go at. Until next time . . . **


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